Sunday, March 29, 2009

Important influences to my life as an artist

I've written about my MaMa before because she was the person in my family who sewed. Not only did she sew, she could make patterns just by looking at a picture of another dress or outfit. One of my earliest memories is of visiting her at Schneiders, the dry goods store where she worked in the little town where both sets of my grandparents lived. At her house, I can remember playing on the floor in the little closet under the eaves while she sewed on her treadle sewing machine. She would give me buttons and scraps to make clothes for my doll. She taught me to thread a needle and she vainly tried to teach me to use a thimble. (I did finally learn when I started quilting.) When MaMa came to Columbus to visit us, we would often make a trip to Penney's to look for fabric. We would also make wonderful day-long trips downtown to Lazarus Department Store. MaMa could shop until everyone else dropped, including my mom and my Aunt Joan. She would take me over to the remnants area at Lazarus and help me pick out some fabric for doll clothes. I can remember loving the hand of all the different fabrics and the riot of color in the big fabric department at Lazarus. MaMa wasn't a quilter, but she taught me to sew and inspired my love of fabrics and for those two things, I will always be grateful.